Being a sellout pays when you’re a member of Congress. We unveiled last week that retired congressmen and congresswomen got 1,452% raises for becoming lobbyists for powerful special interests.

So we sent a letter to the 36 retiring members of Congress asking them to disclose any job negotiations they’re having for their post-congressional careers — so at least the public would know what’s being offered to lawmakers who are still governing our lives.

This week, Rep. Dale Kildee (D-MI) committed to disclosing his negotiations. But earlier this week, we approached retiring lawmaker Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-OH) to ask her to make a similar pledge. She refused to respond to our questions, and wouldn’t even respond when we asked her whether she is even contemplating becoming a lobbyist:

We’re still waiting to hear back from 32 retiring members of Congress. Help us get the word out by signing our petition and using Facebook and Twitter to share our campaign.

Our petition post has a list of the retiring lawmakers and how they have responded to the letter.

Republic Report is dedicated to rooting out the corruption that is so corrosive to American values. We investigate and uncover the buying and selling of politicians and of institutions entrusted with upholding the public interest. We expose how big money distorts major policy decisions – harming our economy and our people.